The Union Education Ministry has instructed the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to establish an annual system for reviewing and updating textbooks before the start of each academic year, as stated by officials knowledgeable about the development. Although NCERT has been releasing new books annually, a formal requirement for yearly updates has yet to be made. However, since 2017, the Council has continuously revised the content, including significant updates between 2022 and 2023, as part of a syllabus rationalisation effort to alleviate student stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senior ministry officials have emphasised that NCERT must now perform annual reviews to ensure textbooks are up-to-date when they reach students. “The Ministry has mandated an annual review of textbooks, and a system to facilitate this will soon be implemented. Students must receive the most current version of their textbooks at the start of each session,” one official explained. The intention is to prevent textbooks from remaining unchanged for extended periods, incorporating necessary updates and new information, such as evolving topics like Artificial Intelligence (AI).
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Furthermore, it is anticipated that it will take at least two years to release textbooks for all grades according to the new National Curriculum Framework (NCF). This means that by the 2026-27 academic session, students in all classes will have textbooks aligned with the updated NCF, as per the officials’ statements.
